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Lawyers warn against raffling

In order to circumnavigate gambling laws, some owners have decided to set up a competition or raffle where the prize is their property. However, controversy has arisen over whether the answer to the skill-based question that has been set can be easily discovered on the internet.

Owners of a £1 million property in Devon decided to sell their home for £25 per ticket. They describe it as a ‘prize competition’ with an entry question designed to circumnavigate complex gambling laws.

With many correct answers, the winner has to be selected at random rendering the exercise a game of chance, and violating the laws on gambling.

Others who have tried to raffle their home have been charged by the police. Last year, Angela Jones of Oakenholt, Flintshire, was ordered to pay nearly £8,000 compensation after she admitted breaking lottery laws. She sold tickets at £30 for a chance of winning her £150,000 three-bed home.

A York man who tried selling 250 tickets at £1,000 for his £190,000 home backed down after the council wrote to him to tell him it was illegal.